The Parable of The Cracked Driveway

The driveway was put in place when the house was built 20 years ago. It served us well during its time. But in recent years, it began to show cracks. We tried filling the cracks, but the filler only made the problem more obvious.

Then the problem got even worse. Parts of the driveway began to sink, so the parts of the driveway no longer fit together smoothly. Even though we knew where the uneven spots were, when we were not paying attention, we would trip.

Finally we realized there was nothing to do, but have the driveway replaced. That would involve jack hammering up the old, discarding it, checking for any problems beneath it, and replacing it with brand new concrete. That sounded like quite an undertaking, but we signed on to get it done.

It was almost painful to see our once solid driveway become a pile of rocks. Once the rocks were taken away and the ground exposed beneath, it looked empty. But we were reminded that Jesus said it can be a Blessing to be empty, because we are then prepared for Him to fill the emptiness.

The big concrete truck arrived. The concrete workers began to fill the empty spaces. And then we watched them skillfully begin to spread out the concrete. They worked together and checked their work to be sure the finished product was smooth.

They then applied a finisher to seal it in place. An invisible covering of protection. The new driveway leads to the same place the old one did– our home. But the way is smooth and safe now.

How many of our relationships are like that? Relationships can be with family, friends, co-workers or others in our lives. The dynamics of the relationship serve us well for a time. But then cracks begin to appear. And slowly over time, we just don’t fit comfortably together anymore.

We may try to fill the cracks or just avoid the places where we know there are problems. But sooner or later, it becomes obvious things are not going well.

What can we do?

If we didn’t care, perhaps we would just walk away and find another relationship. But if we still want to share life, we first have to acknowledge the problem is bigger than we are. And the solution will come from The One Who is much bigger than we are.

We have to surrender to God and allow Him to get His Jackhammer out, if necessary. We have to be willing to let Him remove everything and expose all that is underneath. We have to trust He will replace what we believe we have lost with something new and even better.

It is a process, not done all at once. And as God works in everyone, His Work of Creation may not look like Creation at all. It may look like destruction.

We can trust Him. When we wait on Him, He can build something completely new! We will find we can fit together again, but perhaps in an entirely new way. We may all be different, but when we allow God to do a new thing, we can walk together without stumbling!